I keep reading that from people, but how many times have you heard anyone
say that they drive more recklessly because they have an airbag in their
car? Or even really had reason to believe they do? It isn't human nature
to behave that way. Whenever I heard that argument the first thought that
comes to my mind is that it's a hollow argument from someone who simply does
not like an idea, but has not real argument against it.

Well, I don't think it's a conscious thing, no one would say "Wow, I
drive worse with an airbag." But it's a well-documented effect that
safety in one place can squeeze out into previously unexpected dangers.

The canonical example is with "child-proof" caps on aspirin. Prior to
"child-proof" caps, parents were always very careful to keep aspirin
where kids couldn't reach them it at all. In 1970 they made "child
proof" caps mandatory, and it basically had no effect on aspirin
poisinings in kids. The explanation I like best for this is that
parents depend on the caps and don't keep the drugs out of reach - but
the caps fail (or are used improperly), so some number of kids get
poisened anually, anyway. An article about this effect is he

http://www.libertyhaven.com/politics...tprotect.shtml

It's a pretty common effect that when a new safety measure is
introduced, the law of unintended consequences results in something
undesirable happening. Maybe it's a wash (as with aspirin safety caps),
maybe it's more desireable than what was happening but less stellar than
hoped for. For example, airbags have certainly saved some lives, but
they've inflicted injuries and in some small number of cases caused
deaths that would've been otherwise avoided. On balance, I suspect
we're better with them than without (although I personally wish they
were smaller and designed for people who will use them with seatbelts,
which are much more effective at preventing injuries in crashes). But
it's naive to think that they are an unclouded good.

Just to be clear - I'm actually not arguing against Saw Stop (although I
think their current regulatory attempts are misguided, at best). If it
had been available as an option when I bought my saw, I'd've definitely
gotten one - I'm real big on safety devices. I'd strive to treat my
tablesaw with just as much respect as I do now, although it's impossible
to say what level of pure terror has anything to do with my current
level of safety consciousness .

Based on past experience with other safety mandates, though, if it were
a required item, I'd be very surprised if we didn't have some sort of
other "squeeze out" in injuries - perhaps not nearly as bad as
amputations - as a result of unintended consequences from Saw Stops.
This is not necessarily an argument against the Saw Stop, it's just a
reminder that there are no silver bullets.

-BAT